


With A Little Help From A Friend

by wingedcatninja



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Gen, Gen Fic, No Relationship, Original Character - Freeform, ficfacer$
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:21:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26304064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wingedcatninja/pseuds/wingedcatninja
Summary: When they get stuck on a case, the Winchesters get some unexpected assistance.
Kudos: 4
Collections: FicFacer$ 2020





	With A Little Help From A Friend

**Author's Note:**

> This one is for Sheila. I’m sorry it took so long.

The delicate jingle of the small bell above the door announced the arrival of the two tall men that she had been watching through the window for the last minute. She had seen them walk up and down the street, apparently looking for something, for a good while before they stopped in front of her store. The taller of the two had pointed at the window, then had to argue his point to his companion before they decided to enter. She had had plenty of time to school her features into a neutral welcoming smile by the time the less tall one leaned a hip against the counter and graced her with his own smile. She wondered to herself how many panties had been ruined by that particular smile.

“Hi,” he started, and she nodded in return. He inclined his head a fraction toward his friend before continuing. “My brother and I are looking for some...let’s say ‘special’ items.” He gave her a pointed look, eyebrows raised.

She glanced around the store, even though she already knew it was empty aside from the three of them. These two were apparently hunters, but she needed to be sure.

“I’m not sure I know what you mean,” she said.

The taller one stepped forward, forcing his brother to move aside. His hazel eyes locked on hers with an intensely sincere look.

“Look, we saw the sigil in the window. We’re hunting a-” He grunted slightly when his brother elbowed him in the ribs.

“What my brother means is that we’re hoping you can help us with the specialized items we’re looking for,” he cut in, turning his smile up a notch.

She suddenly realized who these two had to be, and decided to put them out of their misery. She held up a hand asking them to wait a moment, then went over to the door, locked it, and turned the sign to closed. Coming back, she stopped in front of them where they had turned to watch her and spread her arms slightly.

“I may have what you need, but let’s start over. I’m Sheila. And you’re the Winchester brothers, although I have to admit I don’t know who is who.”

“I’m Sam, that’s Dean,” Sam introduced them, while Dean’s smile wilted.

“All right, Sam and Dean, what can I help you with?” She went back behind the counter in anticipation of pulling out whatever items they would need.

“As I started to say earlier,” Sam said, throwing a perfunctory glare at Dean, “we think we’re hunting an Earth spirit that’s been causing some trouble along the highway outside of town, but we’re not exactly sure how to take care of it. We were hoping you might have something?” He shrugged, looking a little awkward when he finished.

Sheila tapped a finger on her chin while she thought about what she might be able to do to help.

“An Earth spirit, you say? Hmm… I think the method of disposal is situational. This one would be the one responsible for the recent car accidents and sudden sand storms, yes?”

“That’s the one,” Dean said, once again leaning a hip casually on the counter. “It doesn’t seem to be a ghost, so there’s no bones to burn. Anything you got would be a big help.”

She returned his smile with a genuine one of her own, then turned and pulled down an old leather-bound tome half-hidden by a stack of New-Age paperbacks. Flipping through the pages, she pondered what she knew about elemental spirits and Earth spirits in particular.

They were generally bound to areas of their element. Out here, in the wide-open deserts, it could just as easily have been an Air spirit. Fire spirits tended to be more localized, and Water spirits were only found near bodies of water. They usually kept to themselves, unless provoked.

“Ah, here we are. Earth spirits can be neutralized with water, but it’s only temporary. To calm this one down permanently, you’ll need to figure out what provoked it in the first place,” she said, turning the tome to let the brothers read the text for themselves.

Sam leaned over the book, reading, while Dean locked his green eyes on her.

“The incidents seem to be localized to the stretch of highway east of town. Anything happen out there recently, that you know of?” 

“I don’t much keep up with the news, but I did hear there was some upset about a mine out that way,” she said.

Pulling her laptop over, she pulled up the website for the local newspaper and handed it over to Dean.

“Maybe there’s something there. Although I’m surprised you haven’t already researched that kind of stuff,” she added with an amused twinkle.

“Eh, well, we weren’t sure what we were dealing with until we got here,” Dean replied, already scrolling through news articles.

“I see. Well, it says there,” she nodded toward the book that Sam was still bent over, “that no matter what you’re going to need some basic ritual items. I’ll just get those together for you while you boys work. If you want to sit down, there’s a space in the back with chairs and a table.”

Dean glanced up and smiled at her while Sam was too engrossed in the book to respond. She left them to their research while she went to the storeroom in the back to put together a box of supplies for them.

A good twenty minutes later, when she emerged back into the shop, Dean had moved to the back and sat down, while Sam was still stood at the counter, now leafing through the book’s other entries. 

She set the box down next to him and went to check on Dean, taking a seat in one of the chairs.

“Find anything?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah, you were right. Some big corporation recently bought a big chunk of land out that way and started mining for copper. According to this, there were some accidents, a cave-in, explosives going off prematurely, stuff like that.” 

Dean kept his eyes on the laptop screen while he spoke, only glancing up once or twice. Sheila nodded along, not wanting to interrupt.

“Anyway, there were protests; people that didn’t like that they were ripping holes in the earth. Some miners quit. They still persist in working the mine.” He looked up at her, a small crease between his eyes.

“That certainly sounds like a viable reason for your spirit to be upset. Do you think it was the cause of the accidents?” She cocked her head, curious about what he would say.

“It’s possible,” Dean nodded. “And when that didn’t have the desired effect, it started attacking people farther from the source.”

“What if the only way to stop it is to stop the mining?” Sheila asked, concerned about the brothers.

“It may come to that,” Dean shrugged. “If it does, we’ll think of something.”

Sam came ambling over, tome in hand, and took a seat. 

“It may come to what?” He asked, looking from Dean to Sheila.

“Shutting down the mining,” Dean clarified.

“I don’t think it will,” Sam said, laying the book on the table and pushing the laptop out of the way. “Check this out. It says here that with the right ritual, we can put the spirit to rest permanently.” He pointed out the passage and turned the book so Dean and Sheila could read it.

“Oh, I forgot that was in there,” she said, leaning back in her seat. “I’ve never used it myself, but my grandmother did. She’s the one who wrote it down. You should have everything you need in the things I put together for you. Anything else you’ll find once you get out there.”

Dean, done reading, looked up, and gave her a grateful smile.

“Thank you, Sheila. I’m not sure we would have figured this out without your help.”

She waved it away but was unable to hide the pleased look in her eyes. 

“Don’t mention it,” she said.

“If it’s ok with you, we’ll come back afterward and let you know how it went,” Dean went on.

“And maybe bring you something to say thanks,” Sam added.

“Oh, well, if you insist,” she said, blushing now.

* * *

It was close to noon the next day by the time the Winchesters returned to Sheila’s little shop. There were a couple of regular customers around so they set the gift bag on the counter without saying much more than thanks. Dean came around behind the counter, against her objections, and gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek that made her blush like a schoolgirl. 

All in all, she hoped they would have occasion to stop by again someday. She would have liked to spend more time chatting with Dean. They both seemed like accomplished boys, but she felt drawn to Dean, for some reason.


End file.
